Natural gas explosion leads to town evacuation

A natural gas pipeline exploded near a town in Texas, US, on Thursday (November 14th 2013) resulting in residents being evacuated. The Chevron Corporation pipeline explosion resulted in flames being shot in the air but no injuries were reported.

The rupture was caused when a construction crew drilled into the pipeline, according to Tom Hemrick, director of Hill County Emergency Management, who spoke to KTVT-TV in Dallas. The crew drilled into the ten inch pipeline that carried liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), resulting in the explosion and subsequent fire. All members of the crew are accounted for.

Schools, businesses and homes in the nearby town of Milford were evacuated as a safety precaution, as a one mile area around the site was completely closed down. Crews waited for the fire to burn down on its own and eventually increased the radius of the close-down site to 1.5 miles as estimations suggested the fire could burn for around 36 hours.

It was determined that allowing the fire to burn down on its own was the best course of action by those first on the scene because the pipeline's safety valve was not easy to reach. A second pipeline - a 14 inch transmission line - is located a few feet from the damaged pipeline, but it was decided not to shut it off as doing so could increase the likelihood of a second explosion. Authorities do not believe that the transmission line was compromised.

According to a state regulator, the pipeline is part of the West Texas LPG Pipeline Limited Partnership. This is a 2,295 mile long common carrier pipeline used in the transportation of liquid natural gas to Mont Belvieu, Texas, to be processed from Texas and New Mexico. The pipeline system is mostly owned by Chevron (80 per cent), while Atlas Pipeline Partners owns the rest of the stake.

The fire has led to some damage to property and a claims line has reportedly been set up by Chevron for those whose property has been damaged and for those who were forced to evacuate as a result of the explosion.